


Dance Magic Dance

by Chysgoda



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Labyrinth Fusion, Alternative Universe - Fae Courts, Blood, Dubious Consent, Emet-Selch Goblin King, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fae Courts, Name magic, Sex Magic, Teasing, Unhealthy Relationships, as relations with fae usually are, changlings, come away oh mortal child, like a lot, no beta we just die, problematic crystal parents, there's gonna be a lot of sexy times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22371559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chysgoda/pseuds/Chysgoda
Summary: Hydaelyn’s champion must face the Architect’s labyrinth in the stead of a girl who wished away her brother.A Labyrinth AU fic for thirsty thirsty friends.
Relationships: Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Comments: 15
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter One

**Dance Magic Dance**

**Chapter 1**

  
  


“Last chance hero,” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. They stood on a dusty hill that overlooked a warren of paths and walls. “As impressive as it is to look at, you’ll find even a hero such as yourself will struggle as a runner. So are you really certain you want to run in the brat’s stead?”

The hero forced herself not to react to the hot breath on her neck. “Yes, I will run your labyrinth in her stead. You took advantage of a child”

“A child old enough to be trusted with the care of a babe.” The man stood up and she was able to get a good look at him. His carmine mask hid most of his face, except for his golden eyes. She was careful not to hold his gaze for too long a stretch, breaking eye contact to look around periodically before looking back. The Paragons of the Dark King’s court could entrance and trap the unwary. He grinned at her, noting her caution. “It is rather beneath you. Hydaelyn’s beloved daughter and knight, second in favor only to the Oracle of Light. Are you certain taking this fool’s burden is what you want to do hero?” 

The champion glared at the Paragon. He slouched lazily the tailored shirt and waistcoat highlighting a lean and muscled form while tight leather breeches left little doubt about the veracity of certain rumors regarding the Architect, not that she needed the proof. She crossed her arms impatiently, “Would you prefer I state my intentions twice more so we don’t have to go through the ridiculous play-acting of you trying to trick me into binding myself by answering trice a thrice asked question?” 

Emet-Selch clucked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment. “Come now hero, has the Mother’s court lost all sense of propriety? There are ways things are to be done. It adds to the flavor.”

The champion resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Yes, I will run in the girl’s stead.”

“Are you sure dear hero?” He reached forward and snagged her wrist before she could register that he had moved. He pulled her in and spun her so that her armored back pressed against his chest. “I have not forgotten that summer before you swore your fealty to your Mother. Forget the babe, and we can recapture those halcyon days.”

The hero licked her lips. That summer, she could hardly remember it beyond feverish dreams on the paragon’s bed and the heady taste of Amaurotine wine. She had walked into his arms mortal. She had run away half changed and in agony until the Mother’s scions had found her. “That summer is gone Emet-Selch. I will run your labyrinth to reclaim the babe.” 

“Then you also agree to play the game by the runner’s rules.” The wicked chuckle in her ear made her tense. He snapped and she gasped when magic crawled over her skin dissolving her armor and the heavy linen clothes she wore beneath it. Indignation burned hot as the dry wind licked her naked form. He briefly palmed a breast humming in appreciation and then snapped and she was clothed in a lightweight linen shirt and doeskin breeches that tucked into thigh-high boots. He leaned back to consider what he had made for his hero. “You cannot bring outside tools or interference into the Labyrinth.”

The hero tapped the heels of her new boots against the ground and found it to be of good solid construction. “At least you’re allowed me decent boots.” 

“Let it not be said I am anything less than generous hero.” He laughed and spun her away from him. “You have thirteen hours in which to solve my labyrinth or the babe becomes one of my goblins, and you will never leave my city or my labyrinth.”

She caught her balance quick enough that she did not stumble when he let go of her. “Is there anything else?”

“Just one other thing.” He said with an off-hand tone. He stepped forward and placed his hand on her chest. She could not even scream for the pain in her chest as his fingers dug into her skin. He drew his hand back pulling a blue crystal from her. She collapsed to her knees gasping in pain. Emet-Selch crouch before her. “No outside interference either my dear hero. I will keep this safe until you reach the heart of my domain, then I will give it back  _ if  _ you’ve played fair. If you do not make it there, well it will be rather a moot point.”

She looked up as he straightened. His expression was one she did remember and she ignored the lust it enticed. He bent over again and took hold of her chin to kiss her roughly and then let her go just as suddenly after stealing her breath. He turned and as he walked away into nothing he rolled his wrist in a dismissive wave. “Do try to make it entertaining hero, I’m sure you remember how much I like to watch.” 

She clutched at her chest gasping to refill her emptied lungs and adjust to the loss of the Mother’s blessing. He liked to watch, gods of all the things she remembered that summer that was one of them. He’d arrange her on the silk of his wine red sheets and command her to tease herself while he watched. He would watch as she worked herself into a frenzy and then catch her wrist before she could finish. Over and over he would repeat the cycle until she sobbed begging him to let her cum, let her fall, anything if she could just finish. She blew a breath out of her nose. There was a child at risk, she could not let him distract her like this. She’d already let him irritate her into agreeing to run in in the girl’s stead rather than as her champion. She tried to shake off the phantom touch of old memories while she forced herself to her feet. “Well feet, let's go.” 

______

  
  


The fairy infestation was horrible in the dried up gardens that lay before the entrance to the Labyrinth. She frowned something about the layout tickled her memory but she could not put her finger on it. She swatted away a fairy who darted in, hoping to nibble on her ear. Her hand knocked away the small thing no bigger than her palm. For a moment its glamor shook and something insectoid was visible before the image of a young woman in a white shift and gossamer wings shimmered back. The little thing hissed at her and darted away. The sound of a snorted laugh brought the hero’s attention to an ornamental pond choked with scum and overgrown lily pads. There was a portly dwarf standing at the edge of the pond undoing his pants to piss into the murky water. 

His dried apple face split in an unrepentant grin. “Not much compared to his majesty but it keeps me happy.” 

“Does it?” The hero said dryly. 

“Yes it does,” the dwarf sniffed. He resettled himself in his pants and did them back up while he looked over the hero. “You were wearing a lot less clothes the last time I saw you.”

The hero narrowed her eyes trying to place the dwarf. “Was I?”

“Not surprised you don’t remember the gardener. Not with what his majesty and his brother were doing to you.” The dwarf waggled his eyebrows suggestively and then bent to pick up a bug sprayer. He sprayed a passing fairy, and then scratched behind one of his generous ears, “Name’s Hoggle, not that you’d care.” 

“Hoggle,” The hero committed the name to memory. Names had power Urianger had told her. The true names of the high fae could be used to influence them. Remembering someone's name would endear them to you. 

“And do you have a name?” Hoggle asked sarcastically. 

The hero glared at him sharply and opened her mouth to answer. 

Only to close it a moment later. She had been called hero, champion, daughter, Warrior, and so many other titles and monikers for so long she could not remember the sound of her own name. She licked her lips and ignored Hoggle’s smirk. “Call me Hero.”

The dwarf barked a laugh and pointed at the massive bronze door set in the Labyrinth’s outer walls. “Settling into his pet names are you? Best you run along to your master then, He-Ro.”

The way he broke the syllables apart grated but she turned her gaze away before her temper could get the better of her. Gods, she missed the calm that the mother’s blessing always cushioned her in, keeping the heat of wrath and ruin at bay in her soul. She strode quickly to the bronze doors unaware of how the land around her distorted when viewed through a crystal. 

Emet-Selch laughed himself when she’d claimed hero for a use name. He’d seen the moment of hesitation though as he rolled the delicate ball of crystal over his knuckles. he watched Hero push the bronze doors open and enter the Labyrinth proper, “My poor Hero, did your Mother take your name from you in exchange for her blessing?”

He chuckled to himself again. Was is not fortunate that he remembered her name? He brought the crystal up to his lips and whispered her name into it. 

  
  


_________

  
  


The bronze doors closed behind her with a definitive slam. Hero blew out a breath and looked to her left and right with a frown. It was apparently just a long corridor with no branching paths. That must be an illusion, she reasoned if she kept a hand on one wall she’d feel any opening she couldn’t see. Turning so that her left hand was on the interior wall she began to walk. 

Lips brushed the back of her neck. 

Hero whirled to see who had gotten so close. Only empty air and orange lichen greeted her. Though the lichen was more active than any variety she was familiar with. Stalks turned to blink at her with glassy eyes. She huffed and looked around to verify that she couldn’t see anyone. She dusted imaginary dust off her thighs and went back to her task. It was only a few more steps when her fingertips found an edge. She paused and looked at the wall. If it were not for her fingers wrapping around a corner of the stone she would have sworn there was no opening. 

He loved guile and artifice, almost more than magical glamour, she remembered abruptly. She had been reviewing load calculations in a clearing when-

Hero shook her head violently.  _ That life was over _ . She stepped into the opening and found that the openings in this corridor had not been disguised. Once again she set her left hand against the far wall and picked up a double-time pace. This was too easy. She scanned around her making sure to check behind her every now and then. Anticipation was quickly making her edgy, making her heart race pumping adrenaline for a fight that just wasn’t there. 

“Gods dammit,” She hissed and stopped to force herself to take even breaths. This was not usually so difficult to control her reactions. 

“And suddenly the Mother’s most celebrated champion can feel again.” Emet-Selch chuckled and stepped around to keep at her back as she whirled to face him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. He wrapped his other arm around Hero’s waist to pin her arms in place. He pressed his nose into her neck and kissed the skin there gently. “Has your blood not rushed since last you were in my arms Hero?”

“It wasn’t real,” Hero whispered and flinched at the lack of conviction in her own voice. 

“Wasn’t it?” He chuckled and his hand slid down to rest between her hips. “It was merely a figment of my imagination when you shoved me down on my own bed and rode me like a starving succubus?” 

“I don’t remember that,” Hero said through gritted teeth. She quivered in his hold and licked her dry lips. 

“You  _ lie _ ,” Emet-Selch hissed into her ear. His hand slid down between her doe-skin clad thighs to cup her sex. His tongue caressed the shell of her ear. “Or did your mother take memories from you as well?”

“She never-“ Hero gasped as he rubbed her through the breeches. “She never took anyth-“

“Is that so,” The sarcasm in his voice made her shiver as she remembered the feel of broad leather cuffs on her wrists. She moaned and bucked into his hand. He nipped at the delicate skin below her ear. “Oh, dear Hero. It’s been so long since her light didn’t stifle that soul of yours. Just a touch more pressure and you’d come undone without ever feeling the touch of my skin against yours. How long has she kept you so closely bound? Do you think she never took anything from you? Tell me your name and I’ll let you cum here and now”

“It’s …” She paused when was the last time she had  _ thought _ her own name? Emet-Selch’s hand stilled when her voice trailed off and Hero hissed frustration and tried to buck her hips into his hand but he just pulled it away from her entirely. 

“Crystal got your tongue?” He teased. A single finger stroked over her from back to front and her back arched. 

“Emet-Selch please!” She begged. He was right she knew. She had not felt this keenly since before receiving the Mother’s blessing. 

“That’s not what I want to hear dear Hero.” He cupped her again. “What is your name?” 

“I don’t know!” She screamed throwing her head back on his shoulder. “Gods I don’t know.” 

“Will you lie again and tell me your Mother never took anything? Do you remember if you were even given a true choice?” Emet-Selch kissed her, a tender thing that spoke more of settled lovers than one night stands. It made her lips burn and the roof of her mouth zing with the electric feeling of a spell. He spun her away from his body as he pulled his lips away. “Next time don’t lie, Hero. It’s rather boring.”

Hero caught her balance before she could fall. She snarled at the Architect shaking with unfulfilled need and tempted to take care of herself then and there. “Do not try to distract me Emet-Selch. I am not in the habit of failing, and I will not be beaten by the likes of you.” 

“There are many ways to be beaten without failing dear warrior.” the paragon smirked at her. “However as I am the proctor of this little test my darling runner, I think such an accomplished individual as yourself needs more of a challenge.” 

“Really?” Hero attempted a bored drawl. The heat still twisting between her hips put a keening edge on her words. 

“If I am nothing more than an irritation then your need will fade. If there is something more than it will not fade until you’ve beat my labyrinth or I have mercy on you.” Emet-Selch leaned down so that his face was level with hers. Hero bit the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning when she felt his breath. “And if you should try to cheat and take care of things yourself dear there will be consequences. I’ll be watching with interest, my dear.” 

He leaned forward as if to kiss her and vanished before their lips could press together. Hero stared into the air where he had been for a breath and then shouted a curse. She forced herself to breathe. This feeling would fade. Zodiark’s court stood in antithesis of everything the Mother Crystal was. Emet-Selch stood for everything the Warrior of Light fought against. The heat  _ would  _ fade. 

It would fade. 

It would fade. 

It would fade. 

The Mother could not have used her as the scions told her the Paragons had used her. 

It would fade. 

It would fade as soon as the taste of his kiss did.


	2. Interlude 01: Artist and Muse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It smut. It's 100% smut with a dark fae. Have fun storming the castle!

**Dance Magic Dance**

**Interlude 01: Artist and Muse**

Emet-Selch all but tripped over his pet artist when he walked into the conservatory looking for her. She sat at the epicenter of papers, drafting rulers, pencils, charcoal, and other tools. There was charcoal on her cheeks and temples, little wonder given her hands were black as soot from the charcoal. She didn’t notice him to caught up in the ideas and concepts she desperately needed to get on paper. He carefully stepped around the rubble of her creative fury. Her life and her soul blazed and the tang of it rang threw him. He bent to kiss her neck and taste her aether. She sighed leaning into him slightly but otherwise did not notice his presence. He’d never thought it was possible to find an artist who took so readily to his inspiration. She’d already survived longer than any of his other pets. Her creative efforts redoubled in his presence and she tossed away what she had been working on only to reach for a new sheet of paper. 

He chuckled, he could likely take her there and so long as she could still work, she would only notice the spikes of inspiration and pleasure feeding into the mad designs that spiraled out from under her hand. Perhaps he would try that, he had been wondering if she could survive his inspiration and his bed. His mouth watered thinking of what mad designs would be inspired when his soul wrapped around her and she was impaled on his cock. More than likely this would finally cause her to burn out. Unable to support the weight of his aether, her soul would start cannibalizing her body and mind for the aether to keep creating, to keep being able to feel the pleasures one of the high fae could visit on a mortal. He’d be disappointed to lose this pet, but the final stretch before death was when they were the brightest, the most passionate, the most reckless. It was a heady wine to drink. 

He snapped vanishing both of their clothes. His pet shivered in response to the sudden coolness of the air on her skin, but she did not stop what she was doing. He began to run his hands down her back and then up her sides. He took note of every hitch of her breath, every shiver, every sigh. She sat cross-legged and hunched over her drawing board and her drawing was becoming frantic. Her initial sketches were usually a messy disaster. These were beautifully clean with notes about materials and specifications. He grinned and gently bit her neck at the pulse point. She gasped and struggled to refill her lungs but her hand remained steady. He let his hands roam her form chasing sighs and shivers as he watched her create. 

When she tossed what she had been working on away from her drawing board he snapped and her drawing board became a low table. Possessed as she was, she only noticed enough to adjust for the new work surface which was just tall enough to force her to kneel up. He smiled as he pressed against her, grinding his erection into the small of her back. Her skin was hot to the touch. He cupped her breasts, his thumbs traced a spiraling line around her areolas feeling the skin pull tight as her nipples hardened, and she gave a ragged moan when he flicked her nipples. he laid kisses on her neck and kept one hand tormenting her breast while the other dropped to gently put pressure on the inside of one knee. Delightfully, he barely needed to apply pressure and she slid her knees apart to give him access. He curled his fingers so his nails drug up the tender flesh on the inside of her thigh. Her head dropped back against his shoulder. He took advantage of her bared throat to scrape his sharp incisors along her veins and windpipe. He glanced at her current work, the more he worked her up the more her designs could only be achieved in the realms of the fae. 

“I know you run off to give yourself relief after these bouts of creativity. It is always so enjoyable to watch,” He cupped her sex and grinned to find her all but dripping into his palm.

“Emet-Selch?” Her voice shook and her hand stalled its mad sketch. 

“I did not give you leave to stop pet.” Emet-Selch arched an eyebrow when he felt a rush of heat and more slick dripped into his palm. “Go back to your work like a good girl.” 

His pet gave a heartfelt moan and sank back into the creative haze. He toyed with the folds of her sex, gentle at first until his pet made a discontented groan. He chucked into her neck and bit down hard enough to break the skin, and stain his lips red. Her back arched into him her lips parted slightly and eyes glazed over. He sealed the skin oh her neck with a spark of magic and cleaned the blood away with his tongue. These were interesting things he was learning about his pet. His fingers slid to her clitoris and he bit her shoulder hard as he flicked the sensitive nub. The charcoal stick in her hand snapped as she screamed pleasure. He toyed with her and lapped at the blood seeping from her shoulder. The design that grew frantically from her feverish mind was comparable to a journeyman's masterwork designs. He wondered how far he could push her in the time she had left before her mortal husk gave up. 

He reached around her and grabbed her free hand. He brought it to her breast and guided her charcoal covered fingers to pinch her nipple. She moaned as the sensation joined the others being heaped upon her. He kissed her neck leaving a bloody smear. “Take care of that for me, pet.”

He let go of her hand and she readily took to the task he’d set her. He murmured praise into her skin watching her charcoal covered hand leave a map of what she liked. His other hand freed now he reached down to plunge a finger into her. She whimpered his title and he watched her drawing hand falter as she began to flounder in all the stimulation. He smiled cruelly and wrapped his aether around her, strengthening the desperate need to put inspiration to action. Her hand started drawing again and tears streamed down her cheeks. Emet-Selch pulled his finger from within her only dive back in with two. He explored inside her slowly, enjoying how her body and soul responded so readily to him. Her shoulders hunched as she struggled to breathe between her gasps and moans. He spread his fingers apart stretching her passage in preparation for him. Her hips began to jerk erratically, his ministrations having built her up to the edge of orgasm. He removed his hands entirely and laughed at the frustrated whine that tore out of her throat. “Now now pet, the morning is young and you have work to complete before you can receive a reward.”

Her hand paused in its sketching. Emet-Selch eyed the appendage unsure if it was defiance or confusion that stilled her hand. Either way, he had not given her leave to stop. He wrapped her soul in his aether and teased at her mind the way he had with her body. “I did not give you permission to stop.” 

She made a sound somewhere between a breathy scream and a sob. Her hand jerked back into motion but her body could not keep up with the thoughts springing to life and then being strangled out by three more. He watched avidly as sketches and notes melded together in a beautiful bedlam of smudged charcoal. His pet swayed slightly in front of him in time with the fluttering pulses of her soul against his aether, her hair clung in sweaty clumps to her neck and face, blood had slid down her shoulder to mix with the charcoal on her breast that she still teased. His cock pulsed painfully and he wrapped an arm around her waist to lift her while his other hand lined his length up with her opening. A strangled scream hissed through her teeth when he dropped her onto his cock. He did not give her time to adjust before lifting her hips until he almost slipped out of her and then brought her down with enough force that the slap of their flesh stung. She twisted both trying to get away and chasing more. Emet-Selch put her teeth to her shoulder once again, a harsh wipe of his tongue removing the clotted blood so that he could taste her again. 

“I can keep you on the edge until your mind breaks, or trap your mind and soul in a mirror just at the peak of your completion so that I could watch you writhe until I grew bored of you in a few centuries time.” He hissed into her ear and he continued to roughly use her as she continued to draw. “Or leave you like this glutted on my inspiration with no choice but to do nothing but express every urge that swirls in that beautiful mind. The designs you create as your body wasted and your brain burned with fever would be glorious. And my precious pet you would beg me to save you that I might do it again and again and again until there is nothing left of your soul but ash.” 

He chuckled feeling her tighten around him. Absently he snapped so that there was a new sheet of paper beneath her hand. He reached up, pulled her hand from her breast, and guided it to clit. He guided her fingers to show how he wanted her to tease herself. “Just like this, you do not stop unless I say, you do not touch yourself without my leave. Understand pet? Now start.”

Tears streaked down the artist’s face as she drowned in what the fae lord did to her. He left bruising bites on the column of her throat as he teased her with her own fingers letting her get to the edge of release and stopping her. He drank in her voice as she begged him to let her cum, to stop, to give her more, all between babbling ideas that could not find release in her drawing and so tumbled from her lips. He played with her, delighting in how far he could push her, leaving bleeding bites on her neck and shoulders when he finished, and then finished again and again, he pushed them both but even when he was well sated, he did not let her cum. He pushed her further intent to see how far past her limit he could push. He pressed his inhuman smile against the pulse point on her throat when he felt her heart begin to beat erratically and grow weak. Her voice had long since gone silent from overuse leaving her only the ability to moan and whimper. 

“Stop.” She sobbed at his order but she stilled her hand. He reached around her and began to work her oversensitive clit himself. “Don’t you dare stop drawing while you cum pet.” 

He slowly dragged her exhausted body back up to the edge watching the insane architectures that grew on the paper. When he threw her from the edge, her very soul exploded and pushed back his aether. Her muscles convulsed around him while hoarse screams echoed off the glass walls of the conservatory. He prolonged the explosive pleasure with skill and magic relishing in the pain that the intensity of her climax seared into her body and soul. When he finally released her she gave a sigh that was almost a death knell as she blacked out. Emet-Selch held his pet to his chest, his soft cock still buried in her, and went threw her designs. Two he set aside for her to refine later in the day after her body recovered. 

Assuming her mind had not broken. 


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hero continues her journey through the labyrinth and makes uncomfortable discoveries.

Dance Magic Dance

  
  


Chapter Two

  
  


———

  
  


“What do you intend to do with it?” 

  
  


The question drew Emet-Selch’s attention away from the crystal ball he’d been gazing in. He looked up to find his brother, known as Elidibus Zodiark’s Emissary. “Which ”it” would you be referring to?”

  
  


“I take it you intend to keep her this time.” The emissary nodded to the crystal that showed the woman pausing to stare in awe at marble walls and pillars that were covered in ivy. 

  
  


“She had sworn to stay with me. She should not have been taken in the first place.” Emet-Selch snarled. He dismissed the crystal and stood from his throne to go and brood by the window. He growled when the view of the goblin city was replaced by Hero making her way through the labyrinth, her left hand still on the wall. Emet-Selch looked over his shoulder to glare as the emissary placidly joined him. 

  
  


“By it, I meant the crystal of light.” Elidibus folded his arms and watched as the woman in the window stopped panting. Her face and neck flushed with lust and embarrassment as her fingers trailed up the inside of her thigh. She jerked her hand away and started moving again. “You did not tell her that the need would only increase the more she bent her thoughts to it, did you.”

  
  


“It is a truly devilish spell Nabriales came up with. She always quite liked this game.” The Architect smirked. 

  
  


“A dangerous one to play after leaving such a ragged hole in her soul. Efficient as simply tearing the blessing out of her was, a soul can only bear so much. Even one like her’s.” Elidibus frowned at the image of Hero as she turned to see that the maze had changed and Ivy was rapidly growing over the pale stone. She turned back the way she had been going to find it changed as well. Her face twisted with rage and she tore at the ivy on the wall that had previously not been there. “At least her tenure as the Mother’s champion has not burned away her ability to feel.”

  
  


“She survived the inspiration that I gave her, the Mother cannot break her.” Emet-Selch snorted. 

  
  


“If my agent had not been able to arrange for the current situation, he thinks she would not have survived much longer before becoming a Warden.” Elidibus watched his brother’s reaction carefully. The Architect’s eyes darted, most likely to wherever he’d secured the crystal of light. “Are you prepared if her memories from ten mortal years ago have been burned away by the light?” 

  
  


“They won’t be.” Emet-Selch snarled and turned to face his brother fully. 

  
  


The Emissary weathered his brother’s lashing aether calmly. “The Warrior of Light has only been active for the last five years. What do you think was happening in the five years before that? She was well on her way to becoming a member of the High King’s court in her own right. What lengths would the Mother need to go through to repress that while retaining enough that her champion did not become a senseless beast?”

  
  


Emet-Selch turned away again and dropped into his throne in an ungraceful heap. “I would rather not think of it. Hydaelyn is not known for thinking over much about her champion’s opinion.”

  
  


Elidibus fought back a heavy sigh and the urge to roll his eyes at his brother’s dramatics. “It is something you may want to think about. As is doing something about all the defenses you ripped away from your artist’s soul when you took the blessing of light.” 

  
  


“I have a plan for that, you’ve no need to worry.” Emet-Selch waved a dismissive hand. 

  
  


Elidibus considered the goblin king carefully before turning to leave. “Be careful Hades, love is a cruel thing.”

  
  


Emet-Selch stared at the spot where his brother had been and frowned as his mind churned with the Emissary’s words. 

———

  
  


The creepers of ivy grew as fast as she tore them down. She screamed her frustration at the stone and vines and she could have sworn the leaves rustled in an aggrieved sigh.  _ Is it my labyrinth? Of course it is, but only by its leave.  _ Emet-Selch’s words floated through her thoughts. When had he told her that? She forced herself to step back from the wall and steady her breathing. Raging at the labyrinth itself wasn’t going to help her. She viciously rubbed her face trying to distract herself from the spikes of heat that stabbed into her core when her thoughts drifted towards Emet-Selch. She blew out a breath and looked down the path she was on. At this point there was nothing to do but walk and hope. 

A pained yowl tore the air and made Hero freeze in her tracks. She looked towards the sound and began to run. She turned corners blindly until she came to an open square with artfully wild trees. In the center was a sturdy oak and from one of its lowest branches swung a red furred beast yowling its distress. The beast struggled causing itself to swing erratically. Hero watched for a moment before bracing herself to catch the thing and keep it from hurting itself. “Stop that! I’m trying to help.”

  
  


“Ludo down?” The beast asked pitifully. 

  
  


“Yes, now just hold still.” Hero said sternly. She followed the rope to where it was anchored by a poorly tied knot. She undid it and grimaced hearing the sound of the beast falling to the ground. She turned to watch as it untangled itself. It was a giant of the thing with shaggy red hair and a broad leathery face. Its eyes were soft though. Hero smiled softly, “I’m Hero.”

  
  


“He-Ro?” Ludo turned the name over on his tongue. “He-Ro friend!!”

  
  


She danced out of the way of what would not doubt have been an affectionate but fatal hug. “Now what was going on here Ludo?”

  
  


The beast hunched over in shame. “Ludo guard! Then Ludo run away.”

  
  


Hero frowned and cocked her head to the side. Somewhere behind the remenates of adrenaline and lust she had a sinking feeling that she had interfered where she ought not have. “Why did you run away, Ludo?”

  
  


“Ludo scared,” the beast sat down with a thump and covered his face. “Warrior coming! Ludo scared of Warrior. Ludo run away.”

  
  


“What Warrior?” Hero asked even if the ice in her veins told her. 

  
  


“Light Warrior.” Ludo said miserably. “Ludo was good guard! But the Light Warrior too scary.”

  
  


“I thought the Warrior of Light was a hero?” She asked quietly. 

  
  


Ludo peeked out between his fingers and frowned. “No! Light Warrior scary! Light Warrior killed Ludo’s friends! Light Warrior would kill He-Ro!” 

  
  


Hero felt bile rise up in her throat. She swallowed it down. In the barracks of Eulmore the soldiers and guards whispered in hushed and frightened tones of the paragons most often seen in battle Fandaniel, Pashtarot, Lahabrea. Word that a paragon was approaching would inevitably be followed by desertions. Deresters who were caught would be delivered to the Light Warden’s for justice. 

  
  


She’d never considered that she was the bogeyman for others. 

  
  


“Ludo stay with He-Ro?” The beast asked hopefully. Hero shook herself out of her own thoughts. 

  
  


“I have to go to the center of the labyrinth and face Emet-Selch.” She said solemnly. “There is a babe I must rescue.”

  
  


Huge shaggy eyebrows knit together in confusion, “He-Ro made wish? But He-Ro nice?!”

  
  


“No, I’m running on behalf of the babe’s sister. And I must go I’ve little time left.” The declaration that she had not made the wish soothed Ludo’s distress. 

  
  


“Ludo help!” The big red beast pushed himself back to his feet. 

  
  


“I may come across the Warrior of Light.” Hero said sternly. 

  
  


Ludo looked around like the words might summon his bogeyman then and there. He looked back to her. “Ludo have He-Ro! He-Ro stronger than other guards. Ludo can help.”

  
  


“You have to keep up then.” She turned and yelped in surprise when Ludo snatched her up in a hug. She froze unsure how to respond to simple affection. It was like being hugged by a shaggy blanket, the beast was aware of his strength and did not crush her before he set her back on her feet. 

  
  


“He-Ro is very hot. He-Ro okay?” Ludo asked his broad mouth dropping in a frown. 

  
  


Fine until you mentioned it again, Hero thought to herself. “I’ll be just fine. Let’s go.” 

  
  
  
  


———

  
  


Hero rested her forehead against the cold marble wall. It provided a moment of relief that ended as soon as it began. Ludo had been separated from her by changing walls, so there were no witnesses physically present to see the distracted mess she was becoming. If it had only been the lust burning her up from the inside she could have fought through it. But it wasn’t. It was frustration, anger, fear, wonder, elation, everything was so intense. She swallowed hard and pushed away from the wall to continue her search. She just kept walking hoping that she’d recognize a clue if it bit her. The corridor opened into a large square with four massive marble statues. Curious, despite herself Hero approached the one closest to her. For a moment it hurt to look at directly and her eyes watered. She wiped away the moisture and when her vision cleared her breath caught. 

  
  


The statue was of her and Thancred and the one night they had shared after she had been given refuge in the Mother’s court. No one else knew about that night, it had in all honesty been lackluster at best. It stuck in her memory for the disappointment. She had been looking for burning passion, but all she had managed to stir in herself or her partner was the flickering of old embers. He had taken her from behind while she had braced against the bed on her knees and forearms. Hero reached out and brushed her marble simulacrum, the tips of her fingers traced the discontented line of the lips. Part of her marveled at how life like the figures were. The rest of her flinched away from the visual representation of the last time she’d taken any kind of physical comfort. 

  
  


She stepped back without looking behind her and her back bumped into something solid. She tried to reverse her motion and the arm that had wrapped around her waist was all that kept her on her feet. Leather and sandalwood filled her nose and she froze completely. Emet-Selch had always smelled like this, but had she known that five minutes ago? When her balance settled the arm around her loosened enough that she could step away from him. The need in her core flared and she ground her teeth against it. 

  
  


“There is not nearly enough of an arch in your back for that to be enjoyable for either of you.” He whispered in her ear. “Come the other statues are far more compelling.” 

  
  


With his arm around her he guided their steps to the next statue. Hero swallowed hard as they came to a stop. She stared at herself naked, blindfolded, and kneeling on a bed. Her arms had been pulled over her head with a chain hooked to broad leather cuffs on her wrists. The chain was held by a marble Emet-Selch dressed in his finery with his pants open. The statue's cock was erect and a mere hair’s breadth away from marble lips that had been parted in eager anticipation. Hero shifted her weight trying to find a comfortable position to stand in with how wet her small clothes had become. 

  
  


“Tell me how you felt,” Emet-Selch whispered as his fingers traced meaningless patterns on the flat plane between her hips. “How did you feel that night bound to the bed of Emet-Selch, Goblin King, architect of Zodiark.”

  
  


“I… it… “ she stammered trying to find words. “It was the first night I met you.”

  
  


“The first night I brought you to my bed.” He corrected gently. He dragged his fingers down to the inside of her thighs. 

  
  


“Your hands when they wrapped those cuffs around my-“ Hero moaned loudly as he dug his fingers into her inner thigh. 

  
  


“Go on,” Emet-Selch chuckled, releasing his grip and rubbing soothing circles over the skin that would no doubt bruise. 

  
  


“I didn’t know how long it could go, I’d never orgasmed because of someone else before.” She licked her lips trying to make sense of her thoughts before they tumbled past her lips. “It… I can’t remember, I screamed so much...” 

  
  


“You’d found release by my hand once before this. Even without the infernal light, you have never remembered the first time I took you.” He kissed the hinge of her jaw. “Would you like to hear about it?”

  
  


“What was I to you?” Hero asked softly. Her hips jerked when his fingers ghosted over the leather that covered her slit. 

  
  


“In the beginning? What all mortals are to the high fae... a plaything.” He pulled her close so he could rest his chin on the crown of her head. “Though I did not take you for bedsport. Handsome as you are Hero, there are far more comely mortals than you. No, I wanted you for your skill.” 

  
  


“Skill?” She shook her head trying to clear it of the need to rut against his thigh.

  
  


“You were a student of architecture, my dear. Overlooked by short sighted teachers, you were easy fruit to pick.” He buried his nose in her hair breathing in her scent and the smell of her arousal. He smirked feeling additional moisture gathering as he stroked her sex. “I was quite content to watch you work in my studio, so feverish with your own imaginings you never saw the times I brought myself bliss while basking in your creativity. There were a few designs you wrought that I brought into being here in my labyrinth. I've always grieved that you did not get to see the fruit of your labors ” 

  
  


Hero tried to pull away but the paragon held her tight. “You fear my words more when they are honeyed with kindness and praise. When was the last time an ally said a kind word to you? Let us take a look, the most recent four memories say?”

  
  


He snapped. She froze half expecting the four pedestals to be empty. She glanced quickly around and then dropped her head, “these aren’t my memories.”

  
  


“Three of these were within a day of when I lost you.” Emet-Selch let his voice fall into a story tellers rhythm. His fingers stroked her in time reinforcing his words. “You were such a delightful disaster when inspiration caught you. Page after page of sketches and designs and calculations.”

  
  


Hero arched back against him with her eyes tightly shut unwilling to look at what was before her. The goblin king caught her earlobe in his teeth and bit down gently. “Would you like me to touch your skin my dear?” 

  
  


“Please!” Hero sobbed as her hips bucked trying to find more. 

  
  


“Open your eyes, look ahead of you, and listen like a good girl then.” He waited until she had opened her eyes to look at the statue that had taken the place of the one showing the first night in his bed. A sweep of his hand and her pants and small clothes vanished. Hero stared at her marble double who sat at a drafting desk. A messy bun had been skewered in place with a pair of pencils. Emet-Selch leaned over the desk next to her one hand on her shoulder the other pointing something out. In the flesh Emet-Selch swept his fingers through her folds exploring. 

  
  


“The fountain…” he could barely hear what she said for how softly she spoke. He drew in a sharp breath and quickly found her clit to reward her for speaking the little bit of memory. She cried out throwing her head back against his shoulder. He gripped her hair with his free hand and pulled her head back to look at the statues

  
  


“Tell me more,” he purred in her ear. He sank a finger into her and drank in the sound of her squeal and the increased heart rate he could feel in her sex. 

  
  


“I can’t-“ she half sobbed. His hand abruptly stopped, killing her words. She licked her lips and tried to find what he was looking for. “It.. it was a raised reflecting pool… you said… you said... gods I can't remember.”

  
  


He plunged two fingers into her and she screamed, her hands coming up to tangle in his white hair as she rolled her hips trying to ride his hand. He kissed her and began rubbing slow circles around her clit with his thumb. She moaned into his mouth and he breathed it in. He broke away from the kiss to bury his face in her neck. He continued to tease her until he had to support her full weight. She babbled pleas and endearments as she bucked and squirmed. To softly for her to hear he whispered her true name into the skin on the back of her neck. It carried his magic deep into her soul to patch the defenses that had been torn away when he took the Mother’s Blessing from her. A shudder passed through her that she did not notice as she tried to chase her release. He built her up whispering her name into her skin and letting his magic sink in deeper each time. He could feel her begin to tense, her back arched as her hips bucked. He whispered his own name into her skin sealing the power he’d laid there, and then bit down hard. 

  
  


Her soul blazed as she came undone for him. His spell took root while he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her and rub her clit in steady circles. He prolonged her pleasure until she begged for him to stop and give her relief from how sensitive she had become. When he stopped, she shook in his arms and gently he shushed her and whispered adorations in her ear until she drifted to sleep. 

  
  


Emet-Selch kissed Hero’s temple as he gathered her up and sat in the soft grass at the foot of the statue of the pair of them. He held her and watched her soul. Watched the way that the color was steadily becoming richer the longer she was without Hydaelyn’s interference. 

All he had to do was wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> four fucking months to write two paragraphs that were tripping me up. I'm just gonna go die in the corner

**Author's Note:**

> All blame belongs to the [Emet-Selch Wholesomely Debauched and Enabling Bookclub](https://discord.gg/Qs96KPv) discord. Drop by for a wonderfully wholesome and enabling experience.


End file.
